Diary of a new voter

Jeremy Wapp is undecided and fairly apolitical - he is the face of the people our politicians need to woo for their votes. Picture / Paul Estcourt

Jeremy Wapp is a 22-year-old car parts salesman from Manurewa. He is voting for the first time this election.

"I believe that if you don't vote you can't complain. If you look at all the people who do complain, nine times out of 10 they're the ones who don't actually vote.

"If you vote you get a little bit of your say."

But he complains about the present Government "all the time".

Politicians do not rate too highly with Mr Wapp.

"They promise you the world but the majority do just about nothing."

By his own admission, Mr Wapp comes from a fairly apolitical family.

The eldest boy in a family of two boys and two girls, he came up to Auckland from Feilding in his mid-teens.

He started work at 16 as a dairy farm assistant, before settling on his present job with an auto parts company in Otahuhu.

Mr Wapp earns a middle income, has no student loans or a mortgage, and thinks he is taxed "too highly". He agrees with Don Brash's "one standard of citizenship" message.

"If you're in New Zealand, you're a New Zealander. Everyone's the same. It's not you're a Maori or you're a European."

National has run a good advertising campaign.

"Some of their ads are quite clever, really. In the back of your head, it's 'Think National, Think National'."

But he says that his vote's fair game. He wants to see what the parties say about retaining skilled workers.

Crippling student loans have seen many well-qualified friends leave the country to work elsewhere, he says.

Mr Wapp thinks Helen Clark tries to be "loved by everybody", but the Government has been prudent in eliminating debt, and encouraging saving.

"They have done quite well, but in saying that, a change can be quite good as well."